


Look To The Stars

by ElisaPhoenix



Series: Supreme Family Future [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Future Fic, Gen, Other, Outer Space, Parent Peter Quill, Protective Peter Quill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:20:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27831412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElisaPhoenix/pseuds/ElisaPhoenix
Summary: It was only a matter of time before Valerie was left alone.
Series: Supreme Family Future [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1428472
Comments: 5
Kudos: 17





	Look To The Stars

She wanted to scream. To cry. But she couldn't find it in herself to do so. She had to watch her mother die in front of her and couldn't do a single thing about it. Stephen came through a portal mortally wounded with Athena and had just enough strength to tell her that she still had Quill and Hunter. He used a spell that would alert them to the situation and said his goodbyes to Valerie before breathing his last. Athena, Stephen's ever loyal wolf, had been connected to the sorcerer's lifeline and died with him with her head on his leg. It was almost poetic.

The rest of her family and the team had died a long time ago, and she was left alone in the tower that was far too quiet. She remembered a time when it was always chaotic and full of love, friends, and camaraderie. Now it was desolate and cold with no one to fill the silence. The Earth's Sorcerer Supreme finally fell to a greater being after decades of defending this reality and it was when Valerie truly hated the gift of longevity she was born with. Her parents were gone, her siblings, her aunts and uncles...all gone. She was alone and scared with no idea if her Uncle Quill got Stephen's message. So she did the only thing she could think of.

She stayed with her mother's body and cried into his shoulder even long after he had grown cold. Valerie didn't know how long she stayed like that. Time was inconsequential to her like it had been for Stephen for quite a while. Diana would have stepped up as the next Sorcerer Supreme but she had fallen in battle years ago. Everyone had been a fighter but Valerie and that's why she was still alive. She stayed out of harm's way.

"I don't know what to do Mama...I'm scared...so scared. I don't want to be alone."

She cried for days...and cried harder when a spell that Stephen had cast on himself and Athena finally activated and turned their bodies into a swarm of blue butterflies. One by one they disappeared to return to the magic in the world until finally none remained. Her mother was truly gone then...and was what got her to scream in despair. Days passed with seemingly endless tears and no hint of a celestial coming to get her, and she finally cried herself out at the end of the first week.

She felt nothing after that.

Valerie just went up to her room and laid down to wait for whatever happened first. Starvation... sickness...end of the world? She didn't care anymore. Valerie just curled up into a ball. She didn't have to wait long though. The next day, the eighth day, she heard voices in the tower since she had left her bedroom door open. Heavy footsteps raced up the stairs to her room and the next thing she knew, she was looking at green eyes full of worry and sympathy.

"Oh baby girl…" Quill whispers before getting up from his crouch and sitting on her bed to gather her into strong arms. Fresh tears of relief and sadness spilled from her eyes as the god held her close to familiar warmth. "Pack up her stuff. Clothes, necessities...whatever. Get it all and put it on the ship."

Valerie didn't pay any more attention after that. She was completely exhausted and finally had someone familiar taking care of her and let herself fall asleep with that knowledge.

=================

Quill sighs and rubs the back of his neck after he silently closes the door to the captain's quarters. Valerie would stay in there for now until they got back to the bigger ship that was home to the Ravagers he led, and there he would have to open up a room by his. One word and the crew wouldn't touch her but Quill would still want her nearby.

"Dad."  
The celestial looks up at his son who had put the last box full of Valerie's belongings aside in a storage room. "You got everything?"  
"I think so."  
"Alright. Stay and keep an eye on her while I go...close up shop."

Hunter nods and Quill exits the ship to go back up to the penthouse and looks around once more. Just after grabbing Valerie's stuffed cow and teddy bear from the couch, a couple of things she never grew out of, he turned and stopped immediately. There in the corner by the elevator was the cloak of levitation floating listlessly...almost like it was depressed. Well, it did lose its most recent master.

"What do I do about you?" Quill asks it. "Do you want to stick with Val?" Levi perks up at his question and he smirks. "Alright. You can come. Friday...initiate Celestial Protocol after we leave."  
"Yes, Mr. Quill." The AI responds softly.

Quill leaves the penthouse and takes the elevator back to the hangar and reboards the ship with Levi. The Celestial Protocol would shut down the tower completely and activate a defense barrier that only Hunter or Quill could deactivate in case they came back to Earth. It was one of the last protocols Tony made before he passed...before Scott was…

The god shakes the thought out of his head as he sits at the helm on the flight deck and takes off toward space. It only took about twenty minutes to leave the planet's atmosphere _and_ dock the Milano on the home ship, and Hunter started taking Valerie's things to the room she would be staying in once Quill told him which one. For now, he would take her to his room until she was feeling better and starting to adjust. So he retrieves her from the bedroom on the Milano and takes her to the much bigger Captain's Quarters on the Ravager ship and gets her tucked in before sitting beside her on the bed.

Hunter joined them a couple of hours later and sat on Valerie's other side so that she was safely between the two of them.

"I'm going to have to talk to the crew." Quill finally says after about half an hour of watching TV in silence.  
"You mean you're going to threaten them."  
"Nah. They can be assholes but they know how to treat a girl. If I ask them to treat her like a princess, they will. No questions asked." Quill sighs and gets up. "Keep and eye on her while I go talk to them."  
"Sure." Hunter nods and fixes the heavy blanket over his friend as his father leaves the room.

Quill gathered all the Ravagers and asked them to treat Valerie with respect, and he didn't get a single protest. In fact, they seemed determined to keep her safe which came as no surprise. He told them story after story about his life on Earth, and when he got the notification of Stephen's passing, he told them all about the girl. The god told them of her kindness and her timid nature, and that she was _not_ a fighter. It would probably take time for her to warm up to them, especially after losing someone so dear to her, but they seemed to understand.

They actually went out of their way to make her feel at home when Valerie finally decided to explore the ship. They gave her directions to areas she might enjoy, and if she looked lost, they dropped everything and helped her find her way. They treated her like a princess and Quill never actually used that term. In a way, she was their princess. They taught her about space food and when she had a good idea of what everything was and how the kitchen in the mess hall worked, she even cooked for them.

Not only did it bring some life back into her eyes, but their usual cook was practically banned from the kitchen. Valerie had always been an amazing cook and it carried over to foreign space food. Even Quill was impressed. He and Hunter took her to planets they deemed safe, and she enjoyed looking at all the different types of wildlife and foliage. When she was on the ship, she enjoyed sitting with Flynn and Emir who were both still alive and kicking after so many years, thanks to Quill. She supposed Flynn still nibbled on Quill's fingers, and Emir got a few bites in whenever they rough houses.

Poor Emir though, he had the same sadness in his eyes that Quill had. Scott had been his human and the man was gone. The tiger took pride in protecting and comforting Scott when the god was away, and that behavior seemed to redirect itself to Flynn and then eventually Valerie. It wasn't uncommon for her to wake up and find both animals _and_ Levi surrounding her in a warm and safe cocoon. Those were the days that made it feel like she was back at home sometimes.

Having Hunter around helped as well. They'd always been close and they were the same age so they had a lot more in common. He did his very best to make her feel at home too and usually his presence was more than enough. The two always had a special bond. One formed over years and years of growing up together. It was a shame Hailey didn't inherit Quill's celestial gene like Hunter did. They both missed her.

Valerie did feel better over time. Something she had plenty of. She never put herself in danger, and if she ever found herself in any, she was always herded away to safety whether it was by a Ravager, Quill, or even Hunter. If they were going to a dangerous planet for a job, she stayed on the main ship and usually Hunter stayed behind with her just to keep her company. There were times he went with his father to help though.

Now was one of the times Hunter stayed behind. They were sitting in the observation deck looking out the large domed window at the stars when Valerie sighed.

"You okay?" Hunter asks softly.  
"It's... really beautiful out here but at the same time...it feels cold and lonely." Valerie says.  
"I guess it would if you're stuck here." He replies. "It's why we try to take you with us on some planets. Even we can get tired of all of this."  
"I guess I can kind of see why uncle Quill didn't want to bring your dad and Hailey out here."  
"He didn't want to bring you either, but more than that, he didn't want to leave you alone."  
Valerie lays her head on his shoulder. "I don't want to be alone. I hate it."  
"You won't be." He wraps an arm around her. "Never again."


End file.
